tim benz

Ray Rice, welcome to Roger Goodell's dartboard of punishment

I had hoped that the dialogue surrounding suspended Baltimore running back Ray Rice would result in him becoming a poster boy for efforts to curb domestic violence. Instead, he's turning into a poster boy for marijuana legalization.

How many times have you heard this refrain in the past few days since Rice got a piddly two-game suspension for punching out his (then) fiancee in an elevator? "What? Ray Rice only got two games? How does he get only two games when Josh Gordon from the Browns got a year for a marijuana violation? That stuff is even legal is some state now, ya know!?"

Yes. I'm aware.

This argument fries me to no end. The two topics have nothing to do with one another. In fact, ripping on Gordon's suspension as a way to criticize Rice's suspension is actually a counterproductive argument.

This is why: Bashing the lack of a stiff penalty against Rice due to a lack of consistency from the National Football League regarding matters of violence from its players in society gets undercut when you also argue that Gordon's sentence is too strict.

Granted, it's completely true that there's a maddening lack of consistency in looking at Rice's short ban as opposed to some other recent cases. Rice's penalty is way too soft based on past precedent from commissioner Roger Goodell. In 2010, Goodell got off on flexing his muscles by suspending Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger six games for his involvement in two separate cases of alleged sexual misconduct.

Charges weren't filed in ether case. In the first case, the alleged victim was completely discredited after testimony from acquaintances of hers claimed that she bragged about the sexual encounter and hoped she was pregnant with a child as a result of it. The second allegation also fizzled after that victim and witnesses couldn't string together a matching story and a lack of evidence was apparent.

Yet Goodell dropped a six-game suspension on Roethlisberger anyway (later reduced to four) just because, eh, it looked bad for the league. Hmmm -- how did it looked when an unconscious woman came spilling out of that casino elevator right at Rice's feet? How bad is it going to look if that other alleged piece of video emerges where he reportedly "hit her like she was a guy?"

That's the proper comparison to make when griping about Rice's short NFL sentence, not Josh Gordon. Throw in an Aldon Smith reference or two if you like as well. When is his situation ever going to be directly handled?

But the appropriate complaint is simply that the NFL has absolutely no consistency when it comes to matters of off-the-field violence. But stop right there -- leave Gordon out of it. The league and its players union need to either form a policy with a structured scale of punishment, or stay out of it and let the courts handle it. And frankly, with the bad PR the league has taken over the Rice matter, staying out of it seems like a bad option to me.

So write it down. Put it on paper. Collectively bargain penalties, fines, suspensions and consequences for convictions involving violent crimes against anyone, not just limited to domestic incidents. But there is no need to make Gordon a martyr while condemning Ray Rice, or in the name of legalizing marijuana. The great irony here is that Gordon is a "victim" of the very structure many people -- including me -- are calling for from Goodell in terms of violence. His league's drug policy has structure. His policy on violence off the field does not.

Gordon has not "been suspended for just smoking some pot," as you have heard uttered way too much this past week. Over a three-year span, the guy is a three-time loser in the substance abuse program. (Not to mention the fact that he was busted twice in college as well.) And on two occasions, a vehicle was involved. Do we really want to lobby for this guy and try to make him look better than he is? Complain about the incongruous penalties all you want. You're wise to do so. But it's the height of hypocrisy to also suggest Gordon is being treated unfairly when he is simply being held accountable for breaking the very structure most are calling necessary to implement when cases such as Rice's arise.

This is right out of the marijuana advocacy playbook. Don't argue your point based on the premise of why legalizing marijuana is actually GOOD for society. Instead, argue that it should be legal because IT'S LESS BAD than alcohol or other drugs. Same thing here. Let's victimize the pothead because what he did isn't as bad as what the woman beater did.

Sorry. But I'm not buying.

Can we please avoid calling for structure from Goodell out of one corner of our mouths regarding cases of violence (RICE) while decrying the structure he did put in place for drug abuse (GORDON)? Let's save the seventh grader in the dean's office mentality of: "Well, what I did was bad. But I shouldn't get detention because what little Johnny did was worse."

Should Rice have gotten a stiffer suspension? Yes. Should the commissioner get more consistent in his administration of discipline when off-field violence by players takes place? Yes. Should Josh Gordon's penalty be brought into question at all in comparison to Rice's? No it should not.

You might also like...

FOXBORO — WEEI.com’s Mike Petraglia and Chris Price discuss the return of LeGarrette Blount to Patriots training camp on Saturday, the first day of full pads practice for the defending Super Bowl champions.

Dickerson and Price discuss the RB position and who will get a majority of the workload. They also talk about missing Revis and the CB position. The boys also get into more Deflategate discussions with callers.

Dickerson and Price are live from Fenway today and kick off NFL Sunday discussing some of the events at Pats training camp this week. Then they get into the court battle between Brady and Goodell and where we go from here? The guys give their predictions on just how many games Brady will in fact sit out. They get into the Chris Mortenson situation after he backed out of the D&C interview. Finally, Trags (Mike Petraglia) of WEEI.com joins the boys live from training camp.

How long will this rebuild take? How much money will it take to keep Bae Crowder? Are Draft Picks even worth anything? With the Danny Ainge not landing any big names in the draft, and unable to lure any big names in free agency, Sam and Ben discussed if the Celtics are doomed moving forward.

Joe and Dave are joined by Pedro who was at the game and had his number 45 retired by the Red Sox in a very touching pregame ceremony. Pedro talks about going into the Hall of Fame, his time in Boston and love for the game of baseball.

The awesomely knowledgeable Fluto Shinzawa calls DJ, Naoko and Pete to talk about his thoughts on the future of the B's. He discusses his column from earlier this week on Cam Neely wanting to give Claude the ax earlier in the season but not getting the ok. Fluto shares his thoughts on Chiarelli's firing, the future for Claude and where the Bruins should go from here. He also gives his opinion on potential moves the team can make, who would fit in here, his thoughts on the NHL playoffs so far and more.

In the final hour of the "midseason finale" as DJ likes to call it, the crew discuss more about the future of the Bruins franchise, the possible power struggle in the front office and who should be the head coach going forward. They talk to intelligent and talented Fluto Shinzawa about all of these thing and more in an excellent interview, and finally, DJ says THANK YOU!

Intern extraordinaire Lucy joins Jerry once again to discuss the most vexing questions in the history of mankind: can men and women coexist? What are the differences between how men and women think? And how mean can women really be?

If you play Fantasy Football then you know there are several “Elephants in the Room!” And nobody is talking about them. Are they afraid? We’re not! The Dallas Running game, Leveon Bell, Demarco Murray & Ryan Matthews in the Philly backfield, the Saints offense and so much more. Right here, WEEI’s own Jim Hackett and Pete Davidson cover all of the main “Elephants in the Room” to help you get the edge for your upcoming drafts. Enjoy!